Mail Order Bride: Westward winds: A Clean Historical Mail Order Bride Romance (Montana Mail Order Brides) Paperback – August 21, 2014

I really enjoyed this audio from the narrator to the author it was a fun clean read of finding one’s self, learning to talk things out, overlooking the little things, finding a place to call home that you find exciting enough to last you a lifetime.Tessa wants more out of life than to be someone’s wife who is there to make her husband look good, never having a mind of her own, living with a boring man who is just out to make a name for his self living it up with party after party. She wants a man who truly is a man one that doesn’t mind a women being a women with a mind. She has gone through all the men in her town and fines them lacking, she sees an ad for a mail order bride which seem exciting. A place she doesn’t know anyone, where she can get a fresh start not only in her life but in her writing as well. She reads a letter from a man who she wants to get to know better. As they write back in forward she decides she wants to meet him. Off she goes not telling any of her family. On meeting Dean sparks fly and as they get to know each other she finds this is a man who she could live and love.When Deans brother tells him about the mail order bride program Dean laughs and said sure why not. His brother write for him, when a letter comes back they are both shocked to get a reply. Dean wasn’t even serious but his brother was. Dean is great at a lot of things but writing and telling about his feelings has never been one of his strong points. Dean agrees to let his brother write back to Tessa, of course he reads her replies and tells his brother what to write with his brother adding more in detail of things a woman might like to hear which will cause trouble down the road. Dean likes what he sees when he meets Tessa as times goes on he finds he is very attracted to her never guessing he would feel this way about another women.They have their ups and downs as they learn to talk, and deal with day to day issues. Most day’s things are more down than up leaving Dean confused as to just what Tessa wants or expects. She sure does know how to beat a dead horse.J. Scott Bennett I thought did a wonderful job of narration he put feeling into the audio. His voice is very powerful, clear and pleasant to listen to. There are no background noises or any high or low tones. His tones are very even never leaving you guessing how the character feels. He gives you a very clear rich audio that you do not want to put down. His male voices are as pleasant as his female voices. You never have any trouble knowing who is talking or just what is on their mind. I did feel he at times he didn’t give a chuckle when the author said the character had chuckled but in no way does that take away from the audio but I felt it would have added more to the listen. I really enjoyed his voice and could listen to it all day with no problem. I do feel the audio made this a more enjoyable read than just reading the book…just my thoughts.The one thing I found annoying in this audio is I do not think when the character is talking if you use character voice that you need to say he said or she said the different voices should tell you who is talking without saying who is. There were a few places that it was mostly all the author put in there. As for reading that is fine but in an audio is not needed. I am unsure if that would be the narrator or the author to make this decision. It isn’t so bad or very noticeable if there aren’t a lot of these all in one area as in this book. Again that is just me and most likely others wouldn’t even think of it.I did find this story for the most part believable. Since they lived in a small area so far from town I doubt much would have been said about them living in the same home with no other females there. I believe in some area there was something called hand fasting where you lived as man and wife until you could be married. This isn’t like they are in a big city or town where they would be talked about. I did find Tessa went a little over board on the fact that he didn’t write the letters in a time where a lot of people could not read or write. I think with him saying he was sorry and why he did this that should have been good enough and things should have been forgotten. The way the author wrote it made it a much interesting story with this in it.I did like the characters and at times I had to laugh at things they said or did. I loved the children they can get by with saying things that others could not. They are innocent and say what they think. I thought both of their families were adorable and love how her father checked on her to make sure she found a true gentlemen. I enjoyed how his brothers teased and embarrassed Tessa and Dean with their talk of the love act. There are so many wonderful things in this story, the plot is great, and the one step forward and two back is darling. I very much look forward to listening and reading more from this narrator and author. It was just a nice fun clean read of two people finding there is life out there and the right one is just around the corner.

I enjoyed reading this emotional mail order bride tale. It was clean read. Both hero and heroine were not really looking for love in the beginning but things fall in place to get these two together. Helped hero cope with loss of his wife and heroine with her despondency to her former elite life. They had a lot of obstacles to their HEA but they had help and, in the end, with love anything is possible.×××××Please stop here if you don't like spoilers. The following review has possible spoilers. Thank you.******This is an emotional historical romance novel that deals with two people that grew up in different social circles, and had baggage they carried, coming together to find love. Heroine wants out of her life. She has it all and is not happy. So she ends up finding out she likes writing but needs experience to become a good writer. She gets idea to write to mail order bride ad as an "adventure" to get that experience. So love was not something she was looking for.In the other hand, hero has known losses and is still grieving. He has two young children to raise and still has to work hard on his ranch. He is just trying to get by. So he is surprised when he gets a letter from heroine but remembers his brother had told him about doing an ad and getting bride. The problem is he traumatically lost his first love and feels like he is cheating, yet heroine's letter really touches him in a way the interest him to continue seeking her out.They write back and forth, and the pace helps hero come to terms with moving on. They even progresses to meeting and things go well, but again hero is struggling with moving past his first love. Heroine is very understanding and supportive.Then after the marriage and honeymoon period happen the book turns more emotional and bit angsty. Heroine gets upset at hero after she learns something and rejects him in bed. Hero withdraws and can't understand why she is mad. He also still had these mix feelings about moving on with heroine and accepting that she is different from his first wife.Throw in the shocking fact that heroine failed to let anyone know of her plans. So her past comes calling and adds further strain on the marriage. Hero is upset with heroine but bottles up his feelings. That's not cutting it as this actually creates more problems between them. I mean the drama keeps mounting on this couple that you wonder how will the get along? Let alone find love! Sometimes these characters really got to me and I felt their stubbornness got in the way of it all. Thankfully some good secondary characters were there to help them along the way.The resolution was pretty anti-climactical. It's like they say communication is important to keep a healthy relationship. It ends with HEA and we get an epilogue. Recommend this read if you like clean historical mail order romances with some substance and strong emotional reads. This one delivered.************************************************“You finally got me through my grief over Sarah. She’ll always be a part of me and I’ll always love her, but I’m not in love with her anymore. I love you, Tessa, only you..."

I downloaded this as it was free and therefore a good way to try an author I had never read before. I enjoyed the concept and could certainly sympathise with a female who wanted more from life. A bit of freedom. Allowed to make decisions for herself without being completely over-ruled just because she is a female. BUT...too often the characters spoke in a way that I forgot this was supposed to be a period piece. The females were allowed too much leeway. Yes I can understand that Tessa had had enough of the constant round of balls all designed to find the perfect husband (according to the rules of the day) and wanted a respite. But to take off to be a mail order bride, thousands of miles from home without any other family around? A step too far for me.I was enjoying the interaction between Tessa and Dean but then they fell out. For me that particular tension between them went on for far longer than necessary.I don't think this is the best author I have ever read. And she should talk someone about proof reading. There were so many errors.I can see that there are 23 books in this series. I may well buy the next 2 to find out what happens to Seth and Marcus. But beyond that this author is pushing her luck.

First book by Linda Bridey that I've read, although I have read other Mail-Order Brides books. The setting is America's Wild West, when men went off in search of their fortunes, but struggled to find wives in the the undeveloped West.Dean is a young widowed father of Sadie & Jack, who lost his wife during childbirth three years before. Working alongside his brothers, Seth & Marcus, they just about get by on their ranch. Although he's still grieving for his first wife, Dean places an ad in a paper for a wife and mother of his children.Tessa is the oldest daughter of a very rich and successful business, Geoff. He & his wife throw endless parties in the hope that Tessa will meet & marry a suitable young man. Unfortunately, Tessa is not interested: she finds the prospective suitors boring & false, & she is fed up with the rules of society.With the help of a rich & widowed aunt, Tessa replies to Dean's advert, & as she reads his letters, she starts to fall in love with him. She makes plans to run away to the West. How will this rich society girl from the city cope with life on a ranch in the middle of nowhere? How will the Samuels family get on with Tessa, & more importantly, will Dean give her a chance?This was a quick, clean & enjoyable read. It was a bit predictable in parts, although there were a few twists thrown in. There were a few repetitions in the characters' actions, which I found annoying. Although, it is a standalone book, it does introduce you to characters in future books (namely Maddie & Seth, & Marcus, & probably Claire) as this is the start of a very long series. The second book (Seth's story) sounds interesting, but I won't be going out of my way to read the whole series: it's too long & costly. I downloaded this one when it was free from Amazon.

This is a fairly good storyline, but sugary sweet, with everyone getting along nicely. There are no real conflicts and no bad guys to overcome. It does need editing. The sentence structure is quite basic and does not flow as well as it could. Where 2 sentences are used badly together, they could easily be combined into one good one. The dialogue doesn't trip off the tongue to sound like normal conversation either.Having said that, I like the characters of the brothers. Each one is different and the story prepares you for the next two brothers.Dean is a widower with 2 children. When he agrees to his brother Marcus advertising for a male order bride for him, he doesn't think for one moment it will happen, so his surprise is huge when he received a letter. He still loves his dead wife, how can he marry again?

Sorry Linda but this is a pretty shoddy book. Firstly, there is no story at all. All centred around one woman who is convinced nobody is listening to her and that is all. Nothing else happens. So many strange things as well. Nobody ever caught a taxi in those days. Nobody ever called their father in law Geoff at first meeting. I could go on but I have to watch some paint dry. Sorry.

I realy loved this story, a young woman who wants more from life then a wealthy husband. She answer's a ad for a mail order bride and falls in love with the man she correspondence with, she then decides to run away and meet him, unknown to her, its his brother who writes the letters putting in the words that he can't express. When she finds out she thinks that everything in the letters are lies. Beautifully told, will she stay? Great little clean story with no cliffhangers. Loved it.Five stars from me.